Sunweb’s Nicolas Roche was one of the many riders caught in crashes during a stressful stage 10 of the Tour De France.
The Irishman was caught in a fall around 70km from the finish in îl de Ré along with a lot of other riders including Sam Bewley (Mitchelton-Scott), who was forced to abandon, and Jumbo-Visma domestique Robert Gesink.
But despite looking in a terrible state immediately after the crash, needing to be helped to his feet before getting back on the bike, Roche was able to battle to the end of the stage 10 minutes down on the winners.
After the stage, Roche revealed the extent of the injuries he suffered in the falling, including a picture of the puncture wounds that were caused by a cassette in the crash.
Posting on Instagram, Roche said it was “one of those days.”
He also shared a picture of the injuries he suffered to his arm, which were caused by the teeth on the rear cogs of a bike in the fall.
Roche said: “Lovely rear cassette engraved in my arm. Nope it wasn’t a tiger.
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“Thanks to the Tour de France medical centre that stitched me up tonight.”
Nicolas Roche's injuries (Picture: Instagram/Nicolas_Roche)
The big crash happened in the bunch around 100km into the stage, when a rider near the back of the bunch fell in the right hand side of the road.
Other riders were unable to avoid the fall, which spread across the road.
Bewley was forced to abandon the stage with a broken wrist, which took him out of his first Tour de France.
(Picture: Instagram/ Nicolas_Roche)
Despite his injuries, Roche was able to finish the race and started stage 11.
There were a handful of other crashes throughout the day, with Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) also affected by falls.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
